Today a colleague of mine at work brought in a curious black elastic wrist band with two embedded holographic disks in it. A "Power Balance" wrist band, which he found on a path in a park. Such a device, according to testimonials, improves one's athletic performance (balance, stamina, strength, energy, etc) by "optimizing the body's natural energy flow" because it "resonates with and responds to the natural energy field of the body".PowerBalance bracelet

Another colleague told me that according to his son, many athletes at Berkeley High School are quite fond of these bracelets, and are willing to shell out the $29.95 to emulate sports heroes such as the handsome ones depicted on the PowerBalance website. http://www.powerbalance.com/powerbalance Bicyclists also reportedly have claimed the bracelets improve their performance.
One might naturally be suspicious of such a claim, and request some evidence that 1) purported energy fields actually flow in the body and 2) this device might have an effect upon such a flow, if it existed, and 3) the device actually improves athletic performance.
And in fact, this is what our sister organization, the Australian Skeptics, have done. They brought pressure on the Australian branch of PowerBalance, even showing on national television in a controlled experiment that such devices are useless (http://www.skeptics.com.au/latest/news/power-balance-test/). See the article for a description of the very siimmple test they put the device through -- and how the bands failed to increase strength and balance when the promoter did not know which individuals were wearing the PowerBand devices.
Now we can rejoice that at least one government has had the good sense to smack the purveyors of such pseudoscientific nonsense. The Australian government at the end of December required PowerBalance to refund purchaser's money, and to stop making unsubstantiated claims of improvement of athletic ability. (see here: http://road.cc/content/news/28766-power-balance-bracelets-dont-work-rule... and here: http://gizmodo.com/5723577/powerbalance-admits-their-wristbands-are-a-scam)
Unfortunately, after the televised expose of the failings of PowerBalance bands, sales increased dramatically, illustrating that in some cases, any publicity is good publicity.
Hmmm -- anyone remember Chi Pants? At least they were comfortable.

Upcoming Events

28 Feb: Skeptics in the Pub, Millbrae

1 Mar: Café Inquiry, Menlo Park

2 Mar: Skeptics in the Pub, Sunnyvale

8 Mar: SkepTalk, San Francisco

9 Mar: Skeptic Movie Night, San José

Skeptics in the Pub: Millbrae

If ye value critical thinking, and if ye scorn the flim-flam man, join us, your friends. We are a group who informally discuss the latest in science or pseudoscience over good eats & ale. Sponsored by Bay Area Skeptics.

SkepTalk: San Francisco

Miriam Diamond, PhD

WHAT: A Quirky Colloquium Quashing Quantum Quackery

It’s fashionable for the names of products and services to include the word "quantum", but does that have any validity in the realm of quantum physics? Is it just a nonsense buzzword? From "quantum computing" to "quantum biology" to "quantum jumping", this colloquium will put you in a super-position to tell the difference.

WHO: Dr. Miriam Diamond is a high-energy particle physicist, currently employed as an Experimental Research Associate at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Born in Canada, she earned her PhD from the University of Toronto. She worked at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, the Institute for Quantum Computing, and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. She was also a member of the ATLAS Collaboration at the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. Assisted by her guinea pig Quark, she enjoys participating in science outreach to students and the general public.